India vs Pakistan Live Cricket Score, Women’s World Cup 2025: IND 102/2 (23 overs) vs PAK, Harmanpreet Kaur and Harleen Deol hold fort in Colombo

Just one single in Sidra's over and now Nashra's over goes for just two singles.

Nashra continues to operate mostly below 70kph and really slowing things up, forcing Harman to adopt a cautious approach. A change of bat is on the cards for the Indian captain and some hydration too.

NASHRA REALLY SLOWS THINGS UP. First four balls in that over below 70kph. Harleen plays the late cut for one of those for four. Off the fifth ball, Nashra fires one in and Harmanpreet hits it past mid on for four. Good over for India.

Off the last ball, some glares exchanged. Nashra shapes up to throw the ball back to the striker's end, Harmanpreet stares back then breaks into a wry smile as the Pakistan spinner looks on too.

Just 32 runs in the 11-20 overs block for India, and they lost the set batter in Pratika Rawal for 31. The Pakistan spinners are rushing through the overs, and one of Harleen Deol or Harmanpreet Kaur must try something different to break the shackles. The dot balls continue to pile up.

Shankar Narayan

In between all the dot balls, Harleen Deol plays another lofted shot, this time over the off side off Nashra for four. When she has these shots in her arsenal, you'd have to wonder why she is so cautious otherwise.

32/1 in the last 10 overs after the powerplay was over. You'd have to say this is not again good enough from India's batters.

"India should try to get things going with singles," Mithali Raj says at the start of the 21st over.

Just like in the previous match in Guwahati, India's dot ball percentage at this moment is 68% after 18 overs.

Just one single in that Sadia over as well.

Harmanpreet Kaur really needs to play a big one today, you feel. This sort of situation is tailor-made for her, and India don't have the depth in batting too. Her wicket here and Pakistan will get a firm footing in this match, for sure.

A close one in that Sadia over, again an arm-ball from round the wicket by the left-arm spinner. Harmanpreet got her bat down in time unlike Pratika.

For a second match in a row, Pratika Rawal gets off to a start before falling just as her innings was building. Due credit to Sadia Iqbal also there, who fired in an 84.1 kph arm ball which got a bit big on the batter. The onus now on Harmanpreet and others to lift the scoring rate in this innings.

Shankar Narayan

Harleen Deol goes down the track immediately after the drinks break, takes on the favourable matchup against the offspinner. Clears the fence. But Harleen Deol plays out five dot balls after the six. Eventually just a 6-run over despite a first-ball six. Oh well.

India’s run rate has gone down from 6.60 after five overs to under five runs an over now. There seems to be no solution to this issue that persists for both Pratika Rawal and Harleen Deol in finding a way to maintain the high scoring rate if Smriti Mandhana falls early. Just two singles in the 13th over too now.

Shankar Narayan

MAIDEN OVER BY FATIMA: The captain leading from the front here. More ordinary calling between the wickets as Harleen hits one to point, where there is a fumble but no run taken. Last ball of the over, inside edge but the umpires say the ball didn't carry to the keeper. Shamim from the other end with her offspin.

FROM VINAYAKK'S ANALYSIS OF INDIA VS SRI LANKA:

During India's batting innings, an expected problem resurfaced again. As good as Smriti Mandhana's ODI form has been over the last two years, there is always a nagging concern: what happens when she gets out early and cheaply? In their brief time together as an opening pair, Mandhana and Pratika Rawal have more often than not hit a good balance between their tempos. Rawal's more calculated approach has freed up Mandhana, but when the leftie superstar has been dismissed first, and Rawal gets together with Harleen Deol, the lull in run-scoring has been significant, even if not for the entirety of their partnership, at least for the first 7-8 overs.

Sample the match on Tuesday against Sri Lanka. When Mandhana got out, the score was 14/1 after 3.2 overs. While there is sound logic to not go gung-ho right away, both Rawal and Deol went into a shell soon after. The first 70 balls of their partnership yielded just 38 runs, a partnership strike rate of 54.28%. And these weren't tough conditions too, either. Sri Lanka were able to keep the two right-handers quiet just by bowling stump-to-stump and cutting the angles superbly inside the ring with their ground-fielding.

After the powerplay, around the 15-over mark, the dot-ball percentage in India's innings was a whopping 69%. There was an over where Rawal hit a full ball that was there to be driven as well as a short ball that was there to be cut, straight to the fielder at short cover. Due to the initial reluctance to play the lofted shots with field restrictions in place, the two batters struggled to find the gaps in the field and found fielders with the kind of accuracy archers and shooters would be proud of. The mere fact that Mandhana was out early is not a good enough excuse for the number of dot balls they played out.

SMRITI GONE!!! Superb delivery from Fatima Sana, she had troubled Smriti Mandhana with a couple of good length deliveries earlier as well. This time it is perfect for a LBW as Smriti misses the ball. SM18 out cheaply again, India would hope she is saving it for bigger days. This ball landed on leg stump, just straightened a bit and Fatima lets out a big roar. Review lost as well, only think that could have saved Smriti was if the ball pitched outside leg.

Smriti Mandhana lbw b Fatima Sana 23 (32 balls) (REVIEW LOST)

Mandhana gets a boundary after a while. A good yorker length delivery actually, but just outside offstump and the Indian opener is able to dig this away past the slip fielder and short third for a four.

A big LBW appeal next ball, but in real time, it looked to be clearly pitching outside leg from over the wicket angle. Fatima is confused whether to review it or not but she goes for it in the nick of time. Ball-tracking shows the ball is indeed pitching outside leg. Poor review.

Smriti finishes the over with an uppish square cut for four. Frustrating over all around for Diana Baig.

CHANCE! Short ball from Faima Sana and Smriti Mandhana shaping up to pull, but this is a complete miscue! But the Indian opener gets away with it, as the ball goes over the short midwicket fielder. The ball got too close to pull for Smriti in the end on the angle, she cramped herself. She hasn't quite gotten going here but India will be glad she is still around. Pratika has been starved of strike in the last couple of overs though.

BREAK IN PLAY: Looks like Fatima has done some damage to her right ankle, the physio is out in the middle to have a look.

Fatima Sana continues, three singles to start that over, good rotation there, as we were just mentioning.

Fatima moves around the field, brings in deep third to short third and puts the point fielder out to the deep.

Four singles in that over. One terrific delivery that shaped back into Smriti but the left-hander kept it out.

Pratika Rawal is up and running early on in this innings. It would ease a lot of pressure on Smriti Mandhana if she can maintain a high scoring rate to her innings.

Shankar Narayan

Just one over of spin to start, Fatima Sana brings herself on for the third over. Pakistan need some control here so the captain would be hoping to provide that.

Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal, one of the most prolific pairs in the women's game already, both have amends to make after their below par performances in the opening match.

Smriti Mandhana (4,896 runs) is 104 away from becoming the fifth batter overall and second India batter to score 5,000+ runs in women's ODIs (Mithali Raj - 7,805 runs); in fact, only Australia's Meg Lanning (15) has scored more tons in the format than Mandhana 03).

Nashra Sandhu 004 wickets) is five away from surpassing Nida Dar 008) to become the second leading wicket taker for Pakistan in women's ODIs; in fact, the only time she picked up five or more wickets in the format was her most recent game prior to the start of the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2025 (6/26 vs South Africa on 22 September 2025)

Sadaf Shamas comes in for Omaima Sohail at the top of the batting order. Fatima had played down Omaima's lack of runs in the press conference: Obviously, when you have done well in the past, you have confidence in yourself and believe you can do it again. Muniba has performed well before — in the Ireland series and the qualifiers — she’s played very well. So judging someone by 1–2 matches is a little unfair. The way Muniba and Omaima have performed in the past, we still believe they will do well. You can’t judge anyone based on 1–2 matches. We’ll continue to support and motivate them as much as we can.

Image: BCCI / X

Harmanpreet Kaur and Fatima Sana smiling at the toss. But not quite sure if there was a handshake.

Fatima Sana wins the toss and OPTS TO BOWL FIRST. Hoping to make the most of some moisture on the pitch that has been under covers a lot.

In July 2017, Pakistan pacer Kainat Imtiaz shared a photo standing alongside Indian legend Jhulan Goswami.

“In 2005, I saw the Indian team for the first time as the Asia Cup was held in Pakistan. I was the ball-picker during the tournament. I saw Jhulan Goswami, the fastest bowler of that time. I was so impressed that I chose cricket as a career, specifically fast bowling. It’s a proud moment for me, as after 12 years today in 2017, I am playing this ODI World Cup with one of my inspirations and getting more inspired.”

Today in Colombo, it is unlikely we will see anything like that.

At 23, leadership responsibilities have been thrust early on Fatima, but the youngster said she is leaning on the experience of the senior teammates. "Actually, their support is very important to me because they always stand by me. They know I have room to make mistakes, and if I do, they help me. Seniors like Sidra (Amin), Aliyah (Riyaz), and even Diana (Baig) always make sure the team stays united. If someone makes a mistake, someone else immediately covers it up. The way our team is right now, and the unity we have – obviously as a young captain it’s challenging, but with their support, I don’t feel it much."

Aavishkar Salvi: When you enter into a big tournament like a World Cup, the area of focus is only cricket. It's good to have the players into a good space. As you saw in the first game, after that first win, obviously, the team is on a momentum, on a roll, and they have been preparing well. I mean, wherever we are getting an opportunity to practice, they're practicing. Whenever there are opportunities to discuss about the game plans, they're discussing that. So, everybody is in a good space where they are working in an ecosystem where they are trying to get their A game onto the day, wherever it is.

In the history of women's ODIs, Pakistan have faced India 11 times over the years and have never managed to win. Four of those meetings have come at the ICC Women's World Cup. In 2017, India won by 95 runs in Derby despite scoring just 169 in 50 overs. In 2022, Pakistan had India in trouble at 114/6 before a 122-run stand from Pooja Vastrakar and Sneh Rana rescued Mithali Raj's side, who eventually won by 107 runs. In Bowral at the 2009 edition, Pakistan were bundled out for 57 in 29 overs, which India chased down with 10 wickets to spare in just 10 overs. In 2013, Pakistan's 192/7 was chased down with six wickets and four overs to spare, riding on Mithali's unbeaten 103. Those numbers are enough to illustrate how one-sided this rivalry has been in the past.

QUESTION:

You mentioned focusing on playing to win, but your past records aren’t in your favour, and even your first match here against Bangladesh didn’t go well. Now facing this Indian lineup, who dominated against Sri Lanka — how do you see that challenge? And any special plans against Smriti Mandhana, considering her current form?

Fatima Sana:

Firstly, whatever records exist between India and Pakistan are meant to be broken. It’s not that Pakistan will never win against them. We believe in playing good cricket no matter who the opponent is. So we won’t think about past history; we’ll focus only on the day we play. And yes, when you play against big teams, you make proper plans for each player. We’ll try our best to execute those plans well and prepare effectively for every opponent.